Jai alai is a game played with a long curved wicker basket strapped to the wrist of a player, sometimes called a cesta or a xistera. The basket is used to catch and hurl a ball against a wall to make it rebound in such a way that an opponent cannot return it before it bounces more than once. The jai alai basket is an expensive, hand crafted device requiring a great deal of skill to use. It takes years of training to learn how to skillfully use a jai alai basket because it is difficult to control the flight of the ball when it is thrown with the basket. This is due to the fact that the basket provides no set path for the ball and no direct means for putting a spin on the ball. Thus, unlike a baseball pitcher who imparts spin to a ball and is able to control the path of a ball with his fingers immediately prior to its release, the jai alai player must rely on centrifugal force and a snap of his wrist to control the path of the ball. Thus it is extremely difficult to control topspin, backspin, or sidespin or to throw a curve, sinker, or knuckle ball with a jai alai basket.
Jai alai is a game played in an open-walled semi-enclosed court of predetermined dimensions, and the ball speed can reach 150 miles per hour when thrown by a relatively low population of extremely skilled professional athletes. Even so, the ball is not intended to travel long distances, but rather it is intended to fly to a portion of the playing court quickly before an opposing player can catch the ball, return it to impact the front wall of the court, and continue play.
Another game utilizing a basket or scoop-like device for catching and throwing a ball is lacrosse. The lacrosse stick, also known as a crosse, is a long-handled meshed scoop.
The lacrosse stick suffers from some of the same disadvantages as the jai alai basket. A typical lacrosse head is commonly strung with a webbed rope-type catching basket (i.e. of nylon or leather strings or webs), intended to change shape and help cradle the lacrosse ball when it is caught. The webbed rope-type catching basket is also necessary to absorb energy when a ball is caught. The typical lacrosse head, for example one governed by NCAA rules, must range from 6-10 inches in width for an attacker or defender, to 10-12 inches for a goalie's lacrosse head. It is difficult to control the path of a thrown ball from a webbed lacrosse pocket and takes years of practice to become proficient at throwing the lacrosse ball from the webbed pocket. Professional lacrosse players, however, can shoot the lacrosse ball over 100 mph.
Toy makers have sought to capitalize on the popularity of lacrosse and jai alai by manufacturing baskets or scoops patterned after the jai alai basket. One example is a molded polyethylene scoop with a shape comparable to that of the jai alai basket. The scoop has a hollow, cylindrical handle. The front of the scoop is open for catching and throwing balls. The back and sides of the scoop are completely solid. The portion of the scoop near the handle is generally bowl-shaped so that it is possible to hold projectiles in it while running. Like jai alai and lacrosse baskets, it is difficult to control the path of a projectile thrown by the toy.
Another feature of these toys is that they are adapted for catching a thrown ball or projectile, requiring that the width of the scoop or basket be sufficiently wide to allow the user to catch the projectile with only a reasonable level of skill.
Games like lacrosse and recreational throwing games are characterized by low projectile speed, relatively short ball travel distances, throwing the ball at another human being guarding the goal, and team play that requires both throwing and catching the projectile.
Other children's toys have been developed for playing catch with lightweight, softball-sized hollow plastic balls or foam or polystyrene balls. These recreational children's toys and throwing implements are intended for throws typically in the distances of 5 to 25 yards.
One such throwing and catching toy is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,026. The company Wham-O, Inc., selling the toy under the trade name “TracBall,” manufactures a thermoplastic molded scoop and basket implement for throwing a lightweight hollow ball at slow speed to be caught by another player holding the same throwing and catching toy.
Much differently, golf is a sport of great history, where a golf ball is struck rather than thrown. It continues to gain in popularity, as the number of courses has increased, and as equipment advances have been made. Some of those advances include graphite and composite shaft construction, large-head metal drivers making it easier for amateur players to drive the golf ball longer and straighter from the tee with greater frequency, and better golf balls, both in material of construction and dimple shape, size, patterns and distribution. Golf became more exciting for the amateur when he could regularly drive the ball over 150-200 yards. Not only does a long drive put the player in the position to achieve a lower score by reducing the number of strokes to put the ball on the green and into the hole, but a long ball flight is simply exciting for the player. Some amateur players achieve catharsis with long drives, even if the remainder of their game, and score, remains poor. Long drives are themselves the source of competition and have spurred increased driver sales.
Nevertheless, in trying to drive the ball long distances or in striking the ball from the ground with another club, the golf player often swings too hard, unintentionally deviating from the mechanics of an efficient swing and imparting unwanted side spin on the ball, resulting in hooks and slices and unpredictable and uncontrolled ball flight. Only players with experience and high levels of skill can predictably and repeatedly impart the ball spin they desire, and they use it within their game to shape the trajectory of their shots to achieve lower scores. A controlled backspin, draw or fade allows the professional to use golf course contour to place the ball in the best position for the next shot. For the typical golfer, the result of uncontrolled spin can be lost balls, higher scores, frustration, a slower pace of play, and discontent with the game.
Despite its popularity, golf remains expensive and time consuming to learn. The equipment can become costly. The cost to play a round of golf, greens fees and golf cart rental can be high, with golfers being willing to pay higher prices for well maintained courses, as the quality of the golf course turf can greatly affect the enjoyment of the game since the ball is hit from the ground. Within the golf market, there is a need for training devices to help the player achieve a higher level of competence by developing a better swing or by achieving a marginal level of increased proficiency over competitors.
Golf ball flight is a function of club head speed, launch angle, ball spin, wind speed and direction, golf ball weight and surface condition (e.g. the size, shape, and pattern of dimples, affecting the fluid dynamics of the air flowing around the ball in flight), golf ball COR (“coefficient of restitution,” or ability to store and release the energy imparted upon it by the face of the golf club), and golf club head Moment of Inertia (e.g. “MOI,” the measure of rigidity of the club, affecting the amount of energy able to be imparted to the golf ball for the duration of impact, ultimately affecting the launch speed of the golf ball projectile), and ultimately ball speed at launch. The United States Golf Association (USGA) sets restrictions on the weight and size of the golf ball. Under present rules, the weight of the ball should not exceed 1.620 ounces (0.04593 kg) and must have a diameter of at least 1.680 inches. The association also regulated the coefficient of restitution (COR) of the driver and the ball. The upper limit for a driver is approximately 0.83, and golf balls typically have a COR of about 0.78. This means that if a golf ball strikes a solid surface at a speed of 10 m/s it must rebound at a speed of no more than 7.8 m/s.
A professional golfer may achieve golf club head speed of around 100 mph, with golf ball speed after impact being 150-165 mph when hit with a modern driver. Top professionals occasionally produce club head speed of 125 mph and golf ball speed of 180 mph. The fastest ball golf ball speed recorded by a “long drive” specialist with a longer than normal golf club shaft is about 205 mph. As an approximation, a 100 mph club head speed causes the ball to leave the club head at 140 mph and at about 50-60 rotations per second. A driver might have a launch angle of 12 degrees, whereas a lob wedge might have a launch angle of 60 degrees or more and be used for shots of shorter length or higher trajectory. In sum, a golf shot is an inefficient way to impart energy to a projectile, and golf club physical properties are highly regulated (e.g. MOI, a physical volume limit of 460 cc, regulations on the shape and depth of grooves on the face of the club, and so on). The result is that a golf club has a small “sweet spot” that must be hit in order to transmit the maximum amount of energy to the ball, and it is difficult to do by an amateur, particularly from an irregular ground surface like deep grass. Several means are available to affix golf club heads to shafts.
Further, the golf swing requires a two-handed grip upon the golf club and an amount of rotation about the spine. For some, back problems, muscular problems, or skeletal or other health problems or disabilities may make a golf swing uncomfortable, painful, or impossible. For some, this means abandoning the game of golf, which can be difficult to do, or not being able to play at all.
Though adaptive golf carts and motorized chairs and posture enhancing devices have been developed for physically challenged golfers, sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars, their use is premised on the need to execute a golf swing to strike the ball from the ground. A seated player may have difficulty executing the golf swing while avoiding contact with the knees, and there exists a long felt need for improved sporting goods equipment for these athletes.